French outfit Olympique de Marseille have detected three new suspected cases of COVID-19 among the club’s staff, the Ligue 1 team announced on Tuesday.

Marseille were set to play the 2020-21 season curtain-raiser against St Etienne last Friday but four confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus at the Provence club meant French professional soccer’s governing body (LFP) postponed the game to next month.

“Olympique de Marseille has just learned that three new suspected cases of COVID-19 have been detected within its professional workforce,” the club said on Twitter.

Marseille added that they had contacted the LFP ahead of their match against Brest on Sunday.

French professional soccer’s governing body LFP has set up a “COVID committee” to advise on whether to postpone matches.

When a club reports more than three novel coronavirus cases a postponement is likely, based on the protocol the LFP sent out to clubs.

Among the major European soccer nations, France was the only one to end the 2019-20 season prematurely due to the pandemic. Paris St Germain were awarded the Ligue 1 title.

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